By Sean Moriarty

Local motorcycle racer Kevin Coyne enjoyed a rare opportunity to rub shoulders with the best riders in the world last weekend.

The Farranfore-based racer is contesting the Superstock 600cc class that runs alongside the British Superbike Championship.

Due to a congested calendar brought about by COVID-19 delays, British Superbike Championship organisers were unable to accommodate the class second round meeting in Scotland which is due to be held this weekend.

As a compromise they were able to get the class on to the support race programme of the British round World Superbike Championship which took place at Donington Park last weekend.

It was a rare opportunity for an Irish club rider to compete at the same meeting as the stars of the sport including six-time World Champion, Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rae.

Coyne gave a good account of himself across the three-race meeting – his pre-season target is top 20 finishes before the end of the season in the highly competitive class – by finishing 23rd in two races, just three places off his target.

“Kevin and his team would really like to thank everybody who makes this dream a reality,” said his father Mark. “We go to Brands Hatch in Kent at the end of July, and having never raced there before it's going to be tough, but Kevin is excited to get going again.”